Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sights
Te Puia
GEYSER, CULTURAL TOUR
( 07-348 9047, 0800 837 842;
www.tepuia.com
; Hemo Rd; tours adult/child $48.50/24.50, day-
time tour & performance combo $60.50/30.50, evening tour, performance & hangi combo $150/75;
8am-6pm Nov-Apr, to 5pm May-Oct)
Rotorua's main drawcard is Te Whakarewarewa
(pronounced 'fa-ka-re-wa-re-wa'), a thermal reserve 3km south of the city centre. There
are more than 500 springs here, the most famous of which is
Pohutu
('Big Splash' or
'Explosion'), a geyser which erupts up to 20 times a day, spurting hot water up to 30m
skyward. You'll know when it's about to blow because the adjacent
Prince of Wales'
Feathers
geyser will start up shortly before. Both these geysers form part of Te Puia, the
most polished of NZ's Maori cultural attractions. Also here is the National Carving
School and the National Weaving School, where you can discover the work and methods
of traditional Maori woodcarvers and weavers, plus a carved meeting house, a cafe, gal-
leries, a kiwi reserve and a gift shop.
Tours take 1½ hours and depart hourly from 9am (the last tour an hour before closing).
Daytime 45-minute cultural performances start at 10.15am, 12.15pm and 3.15pm; nightly
three-hour Te Po indigenous concerts and
hangi
feasts start at 6pm (following on from a
4.30pm tour in a combo package).
Whakarewarewa
Thermal Village
THERMAL RESERVE, CULTURAL TOUR
( 07-349 3463;
www.whakarewarewa.com
;
17 Tyron St; tour & cultural performance adult/child
$35/15; 8.30am-5pm)
Whakarewarewa Thermal Village is a living village where
tangata whenua
(the locals) still reside, as they have for centuries. The villagers show
you around and tell you the stories of their way of life and the significance of the steamy
bubbling pools, the silica terraces and the geysers that, although inaccessible from the
village, are easily viewed from vantage points (the view of Pohutu is just as good from
here as it is from Te Puia, and considerably cheaper).
The village shops sell authentic arts and crafts, and you can learn more about Maori
traditions such as flax weaving, carving, and
ta moko
(tattooing). Nearby you can eat
tasty, buttery sweetcorn ($2) pulled straight out of the hot mineral pool − the only genu-
ine geothermal
hangi
in town. There are cultural performances at 11.15am and 2pm, and
guided tours at 9am, 10am, 11am, noon, 1pm, 3pm and 4pm.
